Last year, the four finished in the final, but this year the riders in the Swedish showjumping team did not get it right at all in the Nations Cup.
Ahead of Friday's heat in Hickstead, England, they had finished fifth at best, which meant they were whipped to deliver a good result to have a chance of progressing to the final in Barcelona.
They didn't fix that.
Stephanie Holmén, Wilma Hellström, Angelie von Essen and Jonna Ekberg defended the Swedish colors this Friday and none of them managed to get a flawless round even though Hellström and her Cicci were close in the first round.
Finished last
In total, there were 36 mistakes for the Swedish team in two rounds and with that they were light years away from a victory.
Instead, it was Germany, Brazil and France, all with eight faults, who settled in a playoff for the first three places.
Once there, France drew the longest straw.
Sweden finished last of the participating teams in Hickstead and for that seventh place they received only 50 points, meaning they will miss the final.
They are admittedly in joint seventh place when there is one sub-competition remaining, but Sweden cannot participate in it as they have already completed four sub-competitions in the Nations Cup.
Thus, it is set for Ireland, who is in eighth place in the table, five points behind Sweden, before the final competition, which is also decided in Dublin.
- Everything indicates that we are going out, there is one sub-competition left that we are not participating in. Boring things have to happen for us to be in the final and we wouldn't wish that on anyone, says Henrik Ankarcrona.
Instead, they will now be forced to qualify to get back to the top division.
- It's sad that we haven't been able to perform better, we have to, but we've learned a lot this season and many riders and horses have had the chance to gain experience in order to eventually perform here, says Ankarcrona.